Ice Age III My version
by goldenpuon
Summary: Discontinued since the new Ice Age came out.
1. To Lead or Not to Lead?

Characters copyright of Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox. Fan fiction of Ice Age (My version) Not much is written on ice age 3 yet but I am basing my idea (unprofessional) of what it could be like based on what on what I read about it

My Ice Age 3 will be presented as more of a book type idea, not a movie.

I will be updating as more as more plot details and character descriptions of Ice Age 3 become available. However, due to copyright laws and this being fan fiction, I will only use the basic movie concepts. In other words, if I have a scene from the actual movie I write about, it will have a different twist to it and completely different dialogue. Again, I will only use the basic concept of the movie and likely not make my own versions of too many scenes. I will be updating and revising this as information becomes more available but it will NOT copy the upcoming Ice Age 3 movie. Thanks for reading. Here's the story so far.

The night after the flood the herd found a cave to sleep in. Unfortunately, most of the trees in the area were destroyed from the flood though some lay ahead so everyone would be able to eat the next day. Manny looked at Ellie, still a little overwhelmed by her but starting to get comfortable around her and soon fell asleep. Sid was fast asleep and Diego was the only one awake. He wondered what the future would hold for Manny and Ellie though it shouldn't be his biggest concern.

The next morning, Diego woke early and decided to survey the area to look to see where there might be trees and grass for the rest of the herd which for him would hopefully bring prey. Outside, he looked at the flood's damage, logs lay many places and the river nearby appeared to be overflowing. No animals were in site but he suspected that some fields and forests lay a few miles south. With that, he left the cave as he normally did to go hunting before the others woke up.

Manny woke up next.

"Time to get up!" he hollered after giving the rest an extra hour of sleep.

The possums slowly started stretching and yawning, dangling from a branch Ellie had put in the cave the night before. Ellie was pretty fast to her feet but Sid just continued snoring. Manny nudged Sid and tried again. No response. Eventually Manny got tired of it and kicked Sid awake.

"Wow, what a nice morning!" Ellie exclaimed to Manny. 'Everyone's look'n bright eyed and bushy tailed."

"Except me." complained Sid, still recovering from his rough awakening and yawning widely.

The possum brothers laughed as they picked up their wacky behaviors as usual.

"Say, where's Diego?" asked Ellie.

"He'll be back soon, he's probably out hunting or looking for food like I told him." said Manny.

A bit later Diego returned excited but a bit cautious. He didn't even bother wait for anyone to ask how his quest went.

"Guess what, there's a field with lots of food a few miles south, but there is a mammoth herd. They're looking for a new leader. I don't know-"

Ellie leaped at the idea before Diego could continue further.

"A mammoth herd!" Ellie exclaimed before anyone could reply.

"We saw a mammoth herd yesterday." said Manny not catching onto Ellie's idea.

"Oooh, I think I'm catching onto something there, lots of food. That sounds good." said Sid, picturing the place.

"No, no, no, I mean what if we lived near the mammoth herd, wouldn't that be the greatest thing ever!" Ellie said to Manny. Manny considered it for a second, then agreed.

"Ok, as long as there is enough room to keep Sid out of trouble we can go there to check it out." Sid, the possums, and Ellie suddenly cheered.

As they left Diego kept quiet. He didn't want to get the idea across Ellie as Manny being the new herd leader, knowing his friend had just accomplished a lot the past few days. As they approached the area, Diego smelled the herd right ahead about ½ a mile away behind some trees exactly where they were headed. He paused, knowing this wasn't what Manny had intended. "Maybe we should go around, you know take the long way."

Everyone looked puzzled for a second, then heard a trumpet followed by several voices.

Manny, flinched, he realized this was the exact same mammoth herd that he had freed yesterday. His eyes widened as he thought he heard his name shouted.

Diego kept quiet about it.

"Let's go to visit them! It looks like they're accepting guests!" said Ellie, suddenly pulling Manny with her trunk in an excited rush.

Manny pulled back and suddenly there was an awkward silence. He thought he heard the words "Manny, new leader." All eyes switched to Manny for everyone else had heard too.

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned your name." said Diego nervously. Now everyone stared at Diego. He had just made another mistake, this time for his own mental state.

Diego sighed; he couldn't keep the truth from his friends. "I went over to that mammoth herd on my morning hunt." he started. Everyone watched, especially Manny. "Normally I wouldn't come near them but when they saw me they seemed quite interested in me." He paused. "They told me that they wanted you to be their new leader, Manny. I told them it was a great possibility and they seem to have taken it as a 'for sure'." He sighed again. "I forgot to mention that it wouldn't be a good idea for a while but they were very insistent. They talked excitedly about how great Manny would be good as a leader after seeing him with Ellie." Diego confessed, his expression showing guilt.

Surprisingly, Manny didn't lose his temper. "I uh, I hadn't intended for me to become part of any other herd." He said finally, more shocked someone would accept him as herd leader than angry. "Maybe we should they should look for somebody else." He said, thinking of how it could separate all of them.

Ellie didn't read his thoughts. "Aww, come on, why wouldn't you want to be with them?" asked Ellie, putting her trunk supportively on his face.

"Why wouldn't you?" echoed Sid.

"No." he said, his voice growing more angry.

Ellie gave him caring eyes urging him to do it because she knew it would be a big step forward meaning she understood a few things about it. Manny's expression softened but he just shook his head, almost sadly. "We'll go around the herd." he said stated calmly, restraining his anger and trying to be caring towards Ellie. By now, Ellie knew that she couldn't urge him any longer. She motioned in the direction Manny pointed and they started walking. Sid was going to say something but no sooner had they started traveling around the herd did an elderly but cunning-looking armadillo appear. Manny's decision was to steer around him, as he resembled Fast Tony and looked like he was selling something despite how Fast Tony had been right about the flood. No sooner had everyone taken a step in Manny's direction than everyone heard a loud voice shout, "HALT!" Everyone paused, "by order by my long lost grandson Fast Tony's talkings to this herd, I am told that one of you is going to be the new leader!"

"Who are you?" said Crash, slightly suspicious.

"Elder Titan at your service, my possible clients."

Everyone eyed each other, knowing what he had come for was Manny.

Sensitively and quietly, Ellie asked again "you wanna do it Manny?"

"What's that I hear?" exclaimed Elder Titan, obviously tuned in on the quietest talking.

Sid repeated what Ellie said louder into Manny's ear.

"What's that you say again, my noble sloth?"

Sid was about to say something but Diego shoved him. Elder Titan repeated louder and louder, until one the possum brothers. Eddie yelled "He wants to be herd leader!"

"Very well then, I'll give you your runner up and could-be herd leader.

COOOOMMMMMMEEEEE!!!!" the old armadillo yelled at the top of his lungs. A loud trumpeting and shaking of the ground was followed. By this time everyone's fur was on end and Diego, Sid, Manfred, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie struggled to cover their ears.

Cut to Scrat Burying His acorn in a Short Tree Stump:

Scrat had just returned from a tree almost fully recovered from the meltdown with his third acorn, something he normally wasn't able to accomplish. He put it through a low lying dead branch that lay about a foot from the ground where it fell to the bottom of the stump. He had done this thinking no one would be able to steal his acorns. Suddenly, an unbelievably loud voice echoed and his first instinct was to hide but soon he realized his nuts were in danger. Out of a bush and a sudden stomping accompanied by loud mammoth sounds, several dozen mammoths appeared and trampled Scrat just in time for him to make it to his treasured tree trunk. At the end of the stampede, Scrat could be seen terrified and even more upset when he saw the tree trunk and the acorns crushed, desperately clinging to the last stampeder's tail.

Cut back to our characters' herd.

Everyone felt like they had gone deaf except for Manny and Ellie which had ears adapted to such loud elephant sounds. The herd of mammoth's focused on their new leader. Manny felt like he was on the spotlight but everyone else in his mismatched bunch seemed nervous, especially Diego who looked about to break down but then again Crash was struggling to keep his brother Eddie from playing dead.

Elder Titan asked for silence. Sid was sure Manny or Diego would have seriously injured Elder Titan had the situation not been so overwhelming. Suddenly, just when all was still, a large, young, cunning looking mammoth with dark black hair and staring, easily penetrating eyes moved as the herd parted for him as if he deserved great respect. Everyone remained on the nervous side but Ellie who tried to cool everyone off by saying "At least the competitor looks hairy, maybe a little too rough for everyone around the edges." Ellie turned back to Manny, taking huge notice that Manny's expression had gone from very scared to stately and determined after the runner up had emerged.

"May I introduce you to your runner-up, Cedric!" exploded Elder Titan.

The herd looked a bit nervously at Cedric though a few trumpets of applause were heard.

"Your first contest will be jumping off that mountain in the distance." Titan said, his voice taking on a quieter and calmer salesperson-like manner pointing to a huge mountain in the distance. Cedric pleasantly showed off some low impact skinners he had been carrying in a human hunter's bag.

Sid's lower lip trembled as Diego, yelled now equally loud, "What contest!" which got everyone's attention because he was a saber. "You think a leader has to go through a test just seconds after you startled the living daylights out of us?" Diego snapped circling Elder Titan as if he was Diego's next meal. "I'm not stupid, you think you can drag the bunch of creatures that approaches these herds' grounds and order one to be leader. Well, I have some news for ya, Elder Titan, if you hold that contest as it is and it threatens my best friend's life, I will see that you not see the end of me as I will gorge on your guts as sabers are ment to do!" Got that clear!" Diego said to Elder Titan walking faster as Titan began to shake slightly and back up while Diego took on a sinister, evil look.

"Oh, yeah sure, I'll come up with it by morning."

With that the armadillo told the mammoth herd to go and as he ran away, the mammoths, Cedric with a vulture suddenly landing on his shoulder, and him all heading in separate directions. Manny looked at Diego stately like he wanted something as everyone cleared and Diego looked utterly threatened, thinking he had made an immeasurable mistake with Manny that he might pay for even though he had never seen something like that in Manny's nature. As it turned out Cedric had been looking back at Manny with a menacing glare that Manny equally returned. After everyone cleared, Manny turned and walked a few steps with Sid watching his every move, his mouth open in shock.

"So, think I handled everything out there ok?" Diego asked Manny, hoping to change whatever bad thoughts Manny had of him on his mind.

Manny, hiding he was just recovering from all the trauma and saying calmly "I thought you did good, got a few people in line." Manny gave Diego a non-threatening glance but Diego could tell that by his eyes Manny knew that this was all because of him.

"So were are we going?" Sid asked the others, still shaken as everyone including the now half playing dead possums exchanging nervous and awkward glances.

"Far, uh, over there." Many gestured to a far off valley just visible in the sun with a downward incline that looked like it might not be too steep. The odd bunch spent the rest of the afternoon in the valley Manfred had pointed to. After they arrived and settled down, Manny stood slightly from the others, seemingly in deep thought. Ellie was the first to approach, concerned about what happened earlier while Diego snuck behind her to talk to his friend out of guilt.

"Are you ok?" asked Ellie, trying to pick up on his thinking.

Manny cared very much about what she had to say and he was thankful that she supported him but now his mind was somewhere else. For some reason, voices echoed from the days before in the meltdown, going extinct, meeting Ellie, and the horrifying replays of his first family being killed that seemed to play over and over. Trying to gather himself, he forced all thoughts out of his head than what had happened so far that day. He had found out Diego had done something much worse to him than Sid had ever done but had admitted they were best friends so he had pulled back his temper. Then there had been Elder more of a scandal than Fast Tony had ever been and somehow he seemed to control the herd despite his obvious crazy behavior and downright deadly contest for him for neither he nor Cedric were prepared. He would normally backed out of being leader without a second thought yet somehow Ellie's encouragement, Diego's sudden defense of him, and a secret urge to help the herd that seemed under perfect control by only an elderly but large armadillo seemed to draw him. As for Cedric, Manny figured he was young and wouldn't know what he was up against Manny yet he seemed to possess the ability to rule with his piercing glare. Manny could tell that words would not change him, eventually there would be a fight between them and that Elder Titan needed to be eliminated as soon as possible without getting the herd mad because they seemed to somehow value him. Still, Manny was stubborn in his ways and his impression of Elder Titan was criminal. He would never want anyone to die but it seemed Diego had already

made plans about this if the armadillo didn't shape up in the morning. Manny

's mind still wasn't able to draw an exact conclusion about how this would work out as it never could when this kind of situation. Manny's mind began to spin as he realized that he would have to change once more, this time to confront everyone and become a leader. Soon Ellie's voice and a very worried image of Diego appeared as Manny fell out of his trance. Suddenly Ellie and the rest of his small herd was by his side, still, he felt like he was too much bin a dream-like state to respond.

Finally Ellie sprayed some cold water on Manny which seemed to wake him up.

He focused

"Whoa, you had be scared for a second." exclaimed Ellie.

"More like 20 minutes." added Sid as if what had happened didn't bother him.

Diego shot Sid one of the nastiest of his looks.

The possum brothers for once seemed infinitely concerned.

"What happened?" asked Diego.

Straightly, Manny replied "I need to figure out how to become leader of this herd."

"And you know that we'll help you every step of the way." said Sid, edging closer to Manny.

"But take it easy for the rest of today, you've done enough." added Diego who now felt closer to Manny than he ever had before admitting him as his best friend. Manny nodded but the possums had questions for Ellie as soon as she left.

"Did they that armadillo guy do something to him?" asked Crash.

"What's going to happen to us?" they both asked at once.

"Everything'll be ok." said Ellie reassuringly. "You'll see when we meet Elder Titan tomorrow." For the rest of the day the herd rested in the small valley. Diego took this opportunity to think and clean his paws.

I know this might have come out too deep but it's not supposed to be like the movie will in 2009. I also had trouble correcting it from its earlier version. Enjoy and review. lol

Update: Looks like the names of some characters changed as well as some being added/taken out. I'll revise like I said when I find more information. Thanks for your patience.


	2. Over a Cliff

Morning came before everyone expected

**Very, very story for such a long wait. I have been way overbooked lately and I'm not sure when I will be able to write the next chapter but at least I got this one up! I have also had many emergencies with my mom lately. I am super sorry for the wait…**

**I am now cutting off from the original Ice Age 3 plot since it seems to have changed drastically. I'll be working on this story making up my own plot for it. I own nothing….**

Morning came before everyone expected. The sun rose as usual but it was 8 before anyone woke up. Diego was missing.

--Start of Flashback--

Diego stretched and woke up. He was up the normal time or so, about 6. He peered up at the sky, then he decided to go out in search of prey, while trying to figure the way of the jam he had put his friends in. He took off at a trot, sniffing the surrounding every so often for an aged deer or thoughtless rabbit that might be a candidate for his breakfast.

He was on the trail of an old doe that, judging by her hoof prints, had a broken leg. He came upon the herd of deer. He lay crouching waiting for enough of them to stop grazing and sleep. It seemed like something had happened to them in the middle of the night that still had them on alert. There was a larger group of them than normal, there were at least 25. They also seemed restless. Some slept, some grazed, and some kept on looking up like they expected some danger to appear. Diego's ears went back and he kept a low profile. Suddenly there was a trumpet and the sound of a vulture overhead. Diego growled slightly in annoyance. Had someone else made a huge kill already and that was why the deer were so nervous?

Suddenly a pounding on the ground was heard. Diego hesitated, then drew back further into the bushes. Since when does a mammoth go about scaring deer? Or was it something more than just that? Then Diego heard the truly obnoxious voice so loud it was strange it belonged to such a small animal. The deer scattered and ran.

"Move!!" said Elder Titan. He was followed by Cedric.

"I've had enough of this." Diego muttered about to turn tail. But then there was more stomping and a whole herd of mammoths followed. Where were they headed? Diego feared they were taking a one-way route to the field where the others slept. Diego loped alongside them far and downwind enough so they wouldn't notice him. Then he caught a glimpse of them. They were a smaller herd than the day before but then why the heck was Titan leading them?

Suddenly Diego stopped. There was cliff ahead! Suddenly most of the herd turned and in HIS direction. Diego found himself running with the mammoths right next to the cliff edge. Diego found an overhang beneath where the slope started just as a random bull almost trampled him. Unfortunately, those above where not so lucky. Diego watched as about a ½ dozen individuals tumbled down the cliff, his eyes wide in shock. Then he heard terrified rumbles and trumpets from above and the herd turned away. Diego checked to make sure the herd was gone but then his gaze went to below. 3 Females, (one was elderly) a calf and two bulls lay at the bottom of the incline. Some appeared dead. Others seemed to be struggling to get up but couldn't having been fatally injured. Diego got the first good look at their faces. Those that were dead looked like they were frightened and determined when they died. But why determined? He remembered that the rest of the herd had had the same look, only it was inward as if they were not aware of what was happening. It was not the look of fear or fury of a normal stampede. It was if they were really not there, like somehow they were led by an unseen force. Diego loped down to the elder female with the calf, the mammoth that seemed in the best condition to talk.

"Excuse, me miss. What happened here?" At first the cow's eyes looked dazed and confused but then suddenly angry.

"How dare you! Why I oughta trample you for what you did! You deserve to die like the rest of the sabers on this planet!" she said angrily between gritted teeth, thrashing a bit.

Diego cocked an eyebrow. "Well what the heck was leading your herd over the cliff? A rouge male mammoth and an armadillo? There was no pack of sabers in the area!" he said both confused and a bit annoyed.

"You are not the future. That bull and the cow is the future!" Diego noticed a wound on her side bleeding heavily. Her life would soon be over like the calf sprawled next to her. It was quite a horrible scenario, even though Diego was not a herbivore, he understood their misery.

He saw her breathes increase and become shallower.

"Then let me ask you one thing. Who caused you to do this?"

"A pack of sabers you furry ratbin! We were closed in and then suddenly, whoosh, we were off like that fleeing the terror and misery that your species is." she spat. "What's in the herd is the answer… not in you." She said her eyes dulling and her breath growing even shallower. She seemed to have no interest in the calf that looked like it was probably hers. "You are responsible… you are responsible………" With that, her body slackened and her eyes lost their life.

Diego went to one of the bulls who tried to hit him with his trunk so Diego quickly decided to get away. Diego looked back at them. Another female was barely breathing and the rest were dead. Cedric was not among them. He ran off to find his herd and tell Manny.

--End Flashback--

Manny opened his eyes. He noticed the time by the position of the sun in the sky. Diego was not there. Quickly, but gently he tugged on Ellie until she was awake.

"Morning Ellie."

"Morning honey. She took both her brothers down from the branch they were hanging from, sleeping. They yawned and rubbed their eyes in her grasp. She laughed slightly. This was their morning routine.

"I'll go wake Sid." Many called. Ellie smiled. She felt like her world was complete with Manny in her life. The way, they worked together to get up the rest of the herd, she felt like he would be a good father to help raise her children.

Sid yawned in an unsightly way and snapped right up. "Where's breakfast?"

"We'll go find that soon." Ellie replied.

"Actually, we'd better start now." said Manny, wanting to get the day going.

"Sounds like a plan to me" Crash agreed. Both hopped onto their sister's back. "Hey Sid! Which do you prefer, rotten meat or dung beetle stew?"

"Neither. I like berry pulp." Sid exclaimed.

The brothers made faces.

Just as the odd trio was heading out, an out of breath Diego came running to them.

"Guys…… you won't believe… what happened!" he panted, his expression and voice negative.

"Tell us!" said Sid enthused, rubbing his hands together after eating a dandelion.

Diego gave Sid a look as hard as steal. He picked another dandelion and continued munching it oblivious to important things as usual.

Diego ignored Sid. "I was out hunting and I found Cedric and Elder Titan leading a herd of mammoths of a cliff. 6 fell over and died." Manny's ears perked up and he looked shocked. "When I talked to one at the bottom of the incline, she said that sabers were the problem and something about a cow and bull. All of them looked dazed like they were hypnotized or something. I-"

"Diego, why!" interrupted Manny sounding angry, confused and worried all at the same time. Ellie glanced at him. She realized that her mate seemed to be concerned about anything mammoth related.

"I'm afraid I don't know." Diego admitted. "That's why I tried to talk to one at the bottom."

Manny suddenly hushed and drew back a little. Quietly, he spoke. "Don't tell me. The herd from yesterday."

"No." Diego replied, a bit of guilt and sadness in his voice. Ellie looked concerned and Crash and Eddie were semi-focused on Diego.

"Who? What? Why? When did this happen?" blurted Sid. He was realizing how upset Manny felt but not catching it yet.

"This morning, mammoths, over a cliff, stampeding." replied Eddie.

"Ooh." Sid replied stupidly putting his finger to his chin.

Meanwhile, Diego and Manfred had been talking.

"Which herd?!" Manny said anxiously.

Diego wished he had more answers. "I wish I knew more. All I can tell you is its smaller and it has more calves in it than the one from yesterday."

"Diego, what exactly did they tell you? The ones that fell that is." Ellie chimed in trying to be helpful.

Diego cleared his throat and repeated the exact words to the closest to what he remembered.

"Sabers?" said Sid shaking.

" No, there were no sabers in the area. I already double checked for any scent. The mammoths eyes looked as if-… they were somehow being…. Well…- they weren't the ones to decided to stampede over the cliff." Diego readied himself for whatever their reaction would be.

"Hypnotics?" Manny replied.

"The drama of going over the cliff?" asked Eddie, who seemed to have put his antics on hold for a moment.

A knot formed in Diego's stomach. "Kind of. Like someone or something was driving them. They didn't even look afraid when they were running. Their eyes just seemed to go inward..."

"The leader of the herd was?" Sid asked, feeling like his brain was starting to smoke. All thought for a minute.

"Cedric and Titan!!" they all shouted at once.

**I'm leaving off here I think I got quite a story going. I'll try to continue this story but there's no guarantee I'll be able to. Thank you for your patience.**


	3. Author's Note

Authors Note: I am discontinuing this story since Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs came out and I did not end up making the plot similar to that of Ice Age 3 like I had planned. And I feel it is too difficult to do at this point since the plots are so different. I could carry on with this story but I lack the time and ideas.

Sorry to disappoint those of you who have been reading this. Writing this was fun while it lasted.


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